The enormous success of major peer-to-peer platforms like Uber and Airbnb has led to dozens of new gig economy startups, many of them based right here in Australia.

Below we consider both major gig economy platforms as well as newcomers to the scene in our look at the rise of the gig in Australia.

Here’s what you need to know about Australia’s gig economy.

Australia's Gig Economy: Key Insights

The gig economy in Australia has experienced unprecedented growth in 2016.

The Winter 2016 Survey from RateSetter highlights the following statistics about Australians:

60% have used a gig economy platform in last 6 months.

68% plan to use a gig economy platform in the future.

The Grattan Institute has also recently released a report that discusses the growth of the gig economy in Australia.

Key points include that the gig economy is improving an already flexible labor market, giving Australians more options to supplement their income, and that the shift towards gig work is a cultural and generational thing.

I guess they have millennials over in Australia too!

But, RateSetter CEO Daniel Foggo says it best, “The beauty of the sharing economy is that everyone, young and old, can participate in a way that suits them.”

Top Australian Gig Economy Platforms

Dozens of sharing economy platforms are available in Australia for micro-entrepreneurs and gig workers to leverage.

The most popular include global platforms like Airbnb and Uber. Not only are these the most popular, but they are also trusted by most Australians.

According to Open Forum, smaller peer-to-peer platforms can piggyback off the established reputation of these platforms to reach new audiences more quickly.

An example of the surge in the success of Australia’s sharing economy is the birth of The Sharing Hub.

Headed by Michael Rosenbaum, co-founder of DealsDirect, the goal of The Sharing Hub co-working space is to help Australian startups “accelerate growth and hit target revenues.”

Startup Smart reports The Sharing Hub will house around 100 entrepreneurs.

In addition to Rosenbaum, the founder of Zoom2U, the co-founder of Mad Paws, and the CEO of Car Next Door (all successful Australian gig economy startups) are all onboard with the project as well.

With the sharing economy already booming in Australia, The Sharing Hub is sure to help 10X its growth.

Utilizing the Gig Economy

There are now more options than ever before for gig work to help Australians supplement their income.

Sharing economy gigs are so abundant that many people are now relying on gig work as their primary source of income.

As a leader in the gig economy in America, WeGoLook has firsthand experience with this new generation of worker. We have over 30,000 in fact working on our on-demand worker platform.

Using several platforms at once enables micro-entrepreneurs to make a full-time living from gig economy platforms.

It's the patchwork income model, and people love it because they can be their own boss, work from home, and choose the jobs they want, and when they want them.

And all the options available give you more control. Not interested in giving others rides in your car with Uber in Australia?

Another platform like Airtasker allows gig workers to pick up and complete tasks for $10 up to several hundreds of dollars. This is a similar, yet different in many ways, platform to America's TaskRabbit.

Airtasker tasks range from washing windows, to gardening, moving, putting together furniture, and so much more!

Got a bunch of new IKEA furniture? Hand the Allen key to an Airtasker and save yourself the aggravation!

In 2016, global insurtech investments totaled $1.7 billion, with both the volume and value of deals roughly doubling since 2014. This doesn’t include companies that are self-funded, have traditional financing, or work with angel investors to bring innovation to the $4.5 trillion global insurance industry. And, every segment of the insurance value chain has been impacted by those investments, including claims.

We are excited to announce our partnership with the CCC ONE platform to help insurance policyholders file self-service claims remotely. CCC ONE is a cloud platform developed by CCC Information Services, Inc. (CCC), a leading software as a service provider to the automotive, insurance, and collision repair industries. Founded in 1980, CCC leverages the CCC ONE platform to link a vast network of more than 350 insurance carriers, more than 24,000 repair facilities, hundreds of part suppliers, dozens of third-party data and service providers, and car manufacturers.

Through this partnership, CCC’s customers can electronically connect to our on-demand field force of more than 40,000 well-trained Lookers who are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Our Lookers are always standing by to help insurers provide a high-level of service at a critical point in the claims process. When assigned, one of our Lookers will gather imagery and information in the field, in any U.S. location—even rural areas—in as little as one day.

How it works

When a claim qualifies for CCC’s mobile channel, policyholders are instructed by their insurer how to capture and upload photos of the damage via their smart device. However, when the policyholder requests assistance, or they do not complete the process within the insurer-defined period, insurers can send us an electronic notification through CCC ONE.

As soon as we receive the request for assistance, we dispatch a nearby Looker to take and upload photos to CCC ONE. Once the photos are uploaded, they are immediately available for insurance appraisers to initiate the claims or repair process.

Additionally, any of CCC’s customers can directly assign claims to WeGoLook through CCC ONE. Once assigned, we immediately dispatch Lookers to capture and upload photos and other requested information from the site of the claim.

It’s a win, win, win

We’re very excited about this partnership the many ways it allows WeGoLook to offer value to policyholders and insurers alike. With CCC and WeGoLook, policyholders gain an even more seamless experience when filing self-service claims. Insurers get access to our on-demand workforce through the CCC platform to help them provide even better service to their insurance industry clients.

And for us, this partnership furthers our mission, and the mission of our parent company, Crawford & Company, to help restore and enhance lives, businesses, and communities.